If all the best pieces of art are about their own making, then the long personal processes surrounding the making of Port of Morrow are all over the lyrical tales of pulling friends through tough situations, even the self-inflicted ones. The relentless perfectionism Mercer’s actions suggest shows itself in a highly polished determination to make perfect indie pop. There's a slight feeling that some of their more idiosyncratic elements might have been jettisoned, such as the gradual ditching of lo-fi guitars in favour of reverb and shimmer; it's hard not to wonder if that's a result of the internal band politics, or the cause of it. This collection of songs, though, is strong enough to endure even the most ardent attempts at mainstreaming. It's to Mercer's credit that Port of Morrow, which could have so easily veered off into soulless corporatism or self-indulgence, manages to remain nothing less than both a universal and personal joy to listen to.

Anyway, don't just take Tina's or my word for it being awesome, have a listen for yourself:

For those of you outside of the UK, you can stream the album via this clever link which re-directs you to your local version of the stream.

...and that's not all. Coming up this week we have interviews with the new members of The Shins to find out who they are, plus a special Port of Morrow road-trip playlist and, at the weekend we'll published our interview with James Mercer, where he talks in-depth about the album, the future of Broken Bells and more.